FOXBURG, Pa. – Allegheny RiverStone Center for the Arts and the Red Brick Gallery announce an exhibition showcasing the work of painter Jason Floyd Lewis and woodworker Mark DeWalt, from Friday, August 26, to Sunday, October 2, at Red Brick Gallery in Foxburg.
“Meet the Artist” receptions will take place on Saturday, August 27, and Saturday, October 1, from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. in the gallery.
The historic gallery in Foxburg will display landscapes by Lewis depicting the beauty of western Pennsylvania, and DeWalt’s furniture and sculptures, using wood from native forests and salvaged artifacts.
Lewis and DeWalt are well known to area residents. Lewis is a charter artist/member of the Red Brick Gallery Cooperative whose works grace the walls of the gallery and gift shop and the homes of his fans and friends. His oil landscapes range in size from exquisite miniatures to large canvases; landscapes in graphite and colored pencil are subtle in nuance and detail. Lewis’s interest in conveying mood, emotion, and the effects of light, air, and humidity takes the viewer on a journey into the mind of the forest scenes he depicts.
Guest artist DeWalt will be presenting his woodworking art for the first time in Foxburg. His love of the textures, colors, character, and potential of wood is revealed in his fine craftsmanship, from wood vases fashioned from trees in Penn’s Woods to rustic furniture crafted from barn siding, fence posts, flywheels, and harness parts. Mark also is the pianist, composer, and leader of CATRO, the Pittsburgh Jazz band. CATRO is well known by ARCA audiences from their appearances during numerous jazz festivals and Poetry and Jazz concerts in Lincoln Hall.
DeWalt and CATRO members will perform in two open house receptions to open and close the exhibition. On Saturday, August 27, DeWalt and a bassist will perform in the second floor gallery during a “Meet the Artist” opening reception.
On Saturday, October 1, CATRO will perform in the Red Brick Gallery rear garden from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. immediately following ARCA’s 10th Anniversary Wurlitzer Organ concert in Lincoln Hall at 2:00 p.m., performed by theater organist David Wickerham. ARCA’s 10th Birthday party will feature Catro’s music and birthday cake in the garden with wine, lemonade, sweets, and savories on the first and second floors of the gallery.
Lewis grew up in Clarion, Pa. He received a BFA from the Columbus College of Art and Design, where he studied drawing and painting. He went on to earn a MFA in Drawing at Bowling Green State University. Lewis lives in Clarion, Pa. and shares studio space with his wife, Amanda.
His artwork represents the landscape as he has observed it. His paintings and drawings represent real places, most of them near his home in western Pennsylvania and in some way memorable, such as rivers, roads or other significant landmarks. He is interested in the way human activities exist and intermingle with a rural area’s natural landscape. In Lewis’s recent work, he has focused on forest interior spaces and exploring the more rugged terrain of the woods.
Lewis’s goal is to depict the landscape in a naturalistic way. Although he uses photographic reference in the studio, he doesn’t consider himself to be a photorealist. While photos are a tool used to design and record facts about his subject, he relies on memories of the landscape and recollections of paintings by other artists whom he admires. He works in thin layers of paint, building up detail and color contrasts gradually until he is satisfied with the visual impact of the representation.
Lewis is interested in depicting the mood of the landscape. Balancing strict attention to realistic detail with a freedom to manipulate the overall structure and effect of his images, he uses gradations, lines, and rhythms to create a sense of space and time in a dynamic way. His goal is to orchestrate works of art that not only emulate the beauty of the landscape but also operate as an expression of his personal response to it.
DeWalt is a fourth generation woodworker. Always living in a rural setting, he has found great inspiration in the natural and historic forms surrounding him. The materials he uses inform DeWalt’s fine craftsmanship and creative process; the result is furniture that feels both fresh and traditional. He enjoys blending materials from diverse origins to create something new, while incorporating time-tested techniques. Local forests, salvaged artifacts, and reclaimed lumber provide the raw materials for his work.
In addition to custom pieces, restoration work is also done; continuing the pattern established by his father, grandfather, and brother. DeWalt grew up handling and manipulating wood. He learned to see its beauty revealed through works of fine craftsmanship and learned to love its textures, colors, character, and potential. Woodworking has provided both economic stability and artistic opportunity for four generations of his family.
The Red Brick Gallery is located at 17 Main Street in Foxburg, Pa. Gallery hours are Fridays, 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., Saturdays, 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., and Sundays, 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
For additional information on the Red Brick Gallery or other events sponsored by the Allegheny RiverStone Center for the Arts, please visit www.alleghenyriverstone.org.
